Abstract
Overfishing is increasing over time, and according to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), about one third of the world’s fish stocks are now overfished. Thus, diversifying the target species is essential for fisheries sustainability contributing to improve resource-efficient processes. Non-target species can be valuable resources for the development of new food products. However, those species are scarcely studied, and it is of high importance to trace their seasonal sensory profile as a first step towards their valorisation. Therefore, in this study, seasonal influence on sensory properties of five low commercial value or unexploited fish species, namely Trachurus picturatus (blue jack mackerel), Spondyliosoma cantharus (black seabream), Trigla lyra (piper gurnard), Serranus cabrilla (comber) and Capros aper (boarfish), was assessed in order to identify the most favourable season for catching each species. Fish samples were assessed by a panel of 16 semi-trained assessors for sensory attributes previously identified. The evaluation takes place every 2 months. Statistical differences were reported between attributes and seasons for all species, except for T. lyra, which did not present any difference in its sensory attributes throughout the year.
Highlights
By-catches and discards are a global phenomenon resulting from fisheries and have been of great concern for all stakeholders in the sector, such as industries, fishermen or scientists [1]
The complex nature of sustainable seafood consumption is dependent on motivational variables, such as intentions that are preceded by an attitude which are mainly formed through beliefs about taste, distaste, nutritional value, ease of preparation, familiarity and freshness [29]
The present study allowed to determine the principal sensorial features of five low commercial value or unexploited fish species captured in the Portuguese coast
Summary
By-catches (the catch of species for which there is no direct effort) and discards (the part of the by-catch that is not used and is, thrown overboard) are a global phenomenon resulting from fisheries and have been of great concern for all stakeholders in the sector, such as industries, fishermen or scientists [1]. This may lead to discards of many fish species which may be due to: (a) technical reasons for marketable species (e.g., onboard storage capacity, bad weather), (b) economic reasons (e.g., species with no or low commercial value, inexistence of a ready market for certain species, damage or poor quality of fish), (c) legal and administrative reasons (e.g., minimum legal sizes of marketable species, commercial fishing quotas already exceeded, unauthorised fishing licenses) and (d) biological/ecological reasons (e.g., patterns of distribution of species which in turn conditions the directed fishery for one or multiple species) [1,4,5]. As highly reported, depending on species, seafood can be an important source of proteins of high biological value, rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids of the omega-3 series, a source of vitamins (such as vitamin D) and minerals (such as Se, P and Ca), and essential amino acids [6]
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